Sales Prices Fall in North Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan, Two of NYC's Most Expensive Areas

• Brooklyn's median resale price increased 4 percent year-over-year to $566,283, the lowest appreciation in October since 2012.
• Median resale prices in the North Brooklyn submarket (Williamsburg, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint) declined 1.2 percent year-over-year to $864,969.
• Manhattan's median resale price increased 0.5 percent year-over-year to $982,042 - the slowest annual growth since February 2011.
• Resale prices in Manhattan's Downtown submarket, the borough's most expensive submarket, declined 1.8 percent year-over-year to $1,197,844.

In Brooklyn and Manhattan, cooling competition is likely heralding a slower than usual winter season for the New York housing market, according to the October 2016 StreetEasy® Market Reportsⁱ. Manhattan resale prices, while still increasing, are growing at their slowest pace in five years. In Brooklyn, competition is decreasing. In both boroughs, fewer homes went into contract last month than in October 2015.

In October, Brooklyn's median resale price grew 4 percent year-over-year to $566,283, the lowest appreciation in October since 2012ⁱⁱ. The number of pending sales, or homes that went into contract, fell 12.6 percent compared to this time last year, an even greater decline than recorded the year priorⁱⁱⁱ.

Competition decreased most notably in Brooklyn's highest-priced submarket, North Brooklyn, which is comprised of Williamsburg, East Williamsburg and Greenpoint. North Brooklyn was the only submarket in the borough where resale prices fell, decreasing 1.2 percent year-over-year to $864,969 in October. All other Brooklyn submarkets recorded median resale price increases exceeding 4 percent.

In other signs of waning competition, the North Brooklyn submarket had the highest share of price cuts among all other submarkets at 44.3 percent. Sellers received 92 percent of their asking price, down from 99.6 percent in October of last year. Homes in the area also took longer to go into contract than this time last year, with median time on market increasing from 35 days to 88 days - more than double the median of any other Brooklyn submarket. Homes in Williamsburg, in particular, took a median of 90 days to go into contract.

Manhattan's median resale price increased 0.5 percent since last year to $982,042, the slowest pace of annual growth since February 2011. Similar to Brooklyn, fewer homes went into contract this October than in years past, with the number of pending sales dropping 16.2 percent year-over-year, compared to a drop of only 1.2 percent in 2015.

Resale prices in the Downtown submarket, the borough's most expensive submarket, declined 1.8 percent year-over-year to $1,197,844. By contrast, resale prices in Upper Manhattan grew 3.2 percent year-over-year, followed by Midtown (1.7 percent), the Upper West Side (1.0 percent) and Upper East Side (1.0 percent). Homes in the Downtown submarket took a median of 13 days longer to go into contract than this time last year.

"Approaching winter, high-end sellers are already cutting prices as they adjust to a more restrained market. Buyers looking in formerly ultra-competitive areas may find the ball is back in their court," said StreetEasy economist Krishna Rao. "In Williamsburg, it will be particularly interesting to see if price declines continue as the L-train closure approaches. For those who don't mind dealing with restricted transit options over the next few years, this could present an opportunity for investment that will ultimately pay off."

The complete StreetEasy Market Reports for Manhattan and Brooklyn with additional analysis, neighborhood data and graphics can be viewed at streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports.

About StreetEasy:
StreetEasy is New York City's leading local real estate marketplace on mobile and the web, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages throughout New York City and the major NYC metropolitan area. StreetEasy adds layers of proprietary data and useful search tools to help home shoppers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Northern New Jersey and the Hamptons.

Launched in 2006, StreetEasy is based in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱ The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan and Brooklyn sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with most metrics dating back to 1995 in Manhattan and 2005 in Brooklyn. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit http://streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports/. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan and Brooklyn.

ⁱⁱ Methodology of StreetEasy's Price Indices here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-streeteasy-price-indices/

ⁱⁱⁱ "Pending sales" refers to the number of homes in contract at a given time.

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SOURCE StreetEasy

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